Save each other // Joel Miller

Life or Death

A large black mare huffed big puffs of frozen breath as it trudged through shin deep snow. Sophie, breathing just as hard, was holding on as she prayed her grip on the horses mane didn't slip. She had no time to think about grabbing the reins that dangle dangerously close to its snow covered hooves. Just as she begin to think she was lost, she sees a log building. "Thank fucking God" Sophie exhales as she kicks into the horses sides to get her moving faster towards the shelter. "Not to long girl, and you and I will be safe and warm" she shouts with a smile. She didn't let herself feel comfort often but she damn deserved this after what just took place...

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Sophie had been slipping in and out of abandoned buildings, looking for supplies, when she heard a large commotion outside. She cautiously peeked her head out when she spotted two men and a young women running into a neighboring building with two horses.

She thought to herself how much easier life would be with a horse when her thought was cut short by spotting what they were running from. A charging hoard of infected, looking like raging bulls darting out of the slowly thickening snow storm. She ducked her head in quick and silently panicked. She pressed her back against the door and squeezed her eyes shut, thinking as fast as she could for a way to get out of this shitty situation she had gotten into.

The screams and yelps of the infected got louder and louder as she remembered a hidden lodging on the peek of the hill, mountain, whatever the fuck she was stranded on. But how to get there without being noticed was the real challenge. Trying to run in the snow was hard enough but one slip and she would be infected for sure.

The people Sophie saw could be good, but they could be really, really bad. She thought it best to lean into the ladder. Avoid infected, but more importantly, avoid shitty people. If only she could get ahold of one of those horses.

Sophie very reluctantly moved off the door with a push and run up the stairs of the old ware house she seemed to be in. A look out the upper window would be a great start to finding some solution to this shit show of a plan she had half formulated. She crouched under the windows that lined the wall until she choose one that seemed to be a good spot to look into the building the horses had been led into.

Peering out slightly she could see through a large, dirty, broken window into the adjacent structure. The three seemed to be fortifying the entrance they came into and running around like ants at a picnic. At least the older men were working together, the younger woman seemed to just be standing there, staring at them working. She could be in shock, Sophie thought, maybe a young buck with no experience with infected.

"They must be busting out the other side" she whispered to herself. The infected had been mostly clattering at the front of the building where they had reinforced the doors, but some were running off to other buildings. Sophie had to start thinking faster if she wanted to get out of there alive. It was only a matter of time before they ventured into her shelter and they were agitated and aggressive. She didn't have anyone to have her back, at least not anymore.

She scanned for an exit near the back of the room. If she could stay still and quiet enough, maybe she can catch them off guard and grab a horse as they ran out. Stupid, but it's the only choice she has. Thankfully her destination was in the direction they would be leaving towards so there would be no doubling around. Just a straight shot to safe haven.

She peers around to find a set of metal stairs leading down and she crouches under the widows again and quickly shuffles towards them. They lead straight to an emergency exit with a few pieces of debris in-front of it. Fucking golden. She starts to make her way down when she hears at least two infected burst through the doors down the stairs. 'All or nothing now' she thinks to herself.

Sprinting down the stairs Sophie throws the items stacked on the door to the side and give the door a shove open. She squints and covers her bare face from the sudden burst of icy winter storm and sunshine that blind her eyes. With no time to wince, she quickly slides her body through and braves the harsh wind. She let go of the door and it slams shut. Breathing heavily, she presses her whole body into the side of the building and both hopes she just melts into it but mostly that nothing, no one, heard the door.

The corner of the building is only a few feet away but she doesn't move. She can hear the echos of the infected scream everywhere. The snowfall and wind is making it impossible to figure out where they are exactly and she is terrified. But she also hears yelling. Alive, human, bossy yelling. Desperate yelling. With one deep breath, she convinces herself to move to the edge of the building and look for the only hope she has left to make it out of this, the horses.

The yelling is closing in and Sophie can slightly see them jumping onto the horses, one man on one and a man and the women on the other. They are about to run right towards her direction. This is it. She just has to lay low and wait for the single rider to come by, grab ahold of something, and shove him off.

The sound of snow whipping around seems to halt in her ears as she focuses on hooves. "Closer, patent, be still. If they see you, this will all be ruined" Sophie chants in her head. The rumbling trot is right next to her when she wides her eyes to watch the first horse go by. Everything seems to go in slow motion. The first horse is carrying the single rider. She jumps as high as she can and desperately grabs at anything. The familiar feel of denim is underneath her grip and she almost hesitates at the idea that she actually caught something. But she doesn't, this is life or death. Instead, she digs her heels into the horses side and pulls as hard as she can.

"WHAT THE HEL....!" Sophie hears as the man is caught off guard, and off balance, and begins to tumble into the snow. Her other hand swung around and grabbed the side of the saddle as she climbs onto the horse mid run. "TOMMY!" Sophie hears the other man shout but tries not to think too much about it as she gains unknown strength and hoists herself onto the horses back. The reins are nowhere to be found so she grabs the mane and closes her eyes. She fights back tears as she knows she probably doomed that rider and his friends, but there was no other choice. She doesn't dare turn around to look back, she just holds on and hopes that the infected stay out of the way. As long as this horse keeps moving forward, she is safe. She can't try to save anyone anymore.

This is life or death.